Alex Dunne of Crime In Stereo has issued a lengthy statement to clear their air regarding the band's recent and seemingly untimely breakup. Dunne notably insists that vocalist Kristian Hallbert's recent health problems had nothing to do with the band's demise (and that Hallbert has made a full recovery), and that a handful of final shows are in the works, all of which will be in the northeast. Here's an excerpt:

"Many of you are requesting that we reveal the reasons behind the breakup. Like any divorce, there's no one reason. It's the cumulative effect of many problems left unchecked/unresolved over the course of years. Many of these reasons are personal and we ask that you respect our decision to move on. We appreciate the support that's been given to us over the years, and we feel truly blessed to have done this for so long. I think the longevity of Crime in Stereo was more a testament to you than it was to us.

However, to quell any speculation, we should make it clear that Kristian's surgery had absolutely nothing to do with the announced hiatus. It was purely coincidence, as Kristian and I had decided to make this move before he got sick. His face/jaw/voice/throat is totally fine. He's singing as great as ever and there are no lasting residual effects."

Dunne also talks about new projects in the works from members of the band, including a melodic hardcore record being planned with CIS's original members and Pat Schramm of Bridge and Tunnel.

We'd like to thank everybody for the kind words and well wishes.

Many of you are requesting that we reveal the reasons behind the breakup. Like any divorce, there's no one reason. It's the cumulative effect of many problems left unchecked/unresolved over the course of years. Many of these reasons are personal and we ask that you respect our decision to move on. We appreciate the support that's been given to us over the years, and we feel truly blessed to have done this for so long. I think the longevity of Crime in Stereo was more a testament to you than it was to us.

However, to quell any speculation, we should make it clear that Kristian's surgery had absolutely nothing to do with the announced hiatus. It was purely coincidence, as Kristian and I had decided to make this move before he got sick. His face/jaw/voice/throat is totally fine. He's singing as great as ever and there are no lasting residual effects.

There will be new music forthcoming from most members of Crime in Stereo. Kristian and I had been working on new songs well before the split, and we will get them out to the public as soon as we feel they are ready. K and I love making music together, and we're very excited to keep it going. Hopefully we have something out to you sooner rather than later.

Gary has a new band called DAYTRADER along with some members of Latterman and Divider. I've just heard the first roughs of their demo and I believe they'll be releasing it to the public sometime very soon. Stay tuned.

Also, I think most of the original CiS members (myself, Kristian, Gary, Mike Musilli) along with Latterman/Bridge and Tunnel drummer Pat Schramm will be making a fast melodic hardcore record sometime in the near future. For the first time in a long time, I significantly miss playing fast music. The band will be part-time at most, but that's the point. It's been a while since we did something strictly for fun. The writing is going great, and will mark a return to Contract-era speeds and sounds.

The last CiS shows are being booked as we speak. There will be 3 or 4 more shows, all of them in the Northeast.

Stay tuned to the CiS social-networking sites (twitter/facebook/myspace) for all information about the final CIS shows, as well as any new music.

Also stay up on Bridge9.com and TheB9.com for final show info, as well as the final runs of Crime In Stereo merch. The Bridge9 store will be printing a few of our favorite shirt designs, all of which were only ever available on tour. They will be printed in limited quantities, so look out for that.

I'd like to briefly thank three people in particular: Anna Jacobson-Leong, Karl Hensel and Christopher Wrenn. It is through their belief in this band that we were able to accomplish anything at all. I hope they know the high regards we will hold them in, and the appreciation we have for all their hard work and dedication. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to do what we love.

Finally, I'd like to thank our dear friend Ryan Mackfall for producing the video for "I Am Everything I Am Not." This was supposed to be a CiS documentary that was to be filmed over half a year in Europe. When things with the band fell apart, Ryan took some of the footage to make this video, which is easily my favorite piece of media ever produced for this band. On a personal note: Ryan - we love and miss you, and you have absolutely outdone yourself with this. You're one of the most talented people we've ever gotten to work with and we appreciate you entirely. The link for the video can be seen below.